Tate Modern

About Tate Modern

Tate Modern is Britain's national museum of modern and contemporary art, housed in the former Bankside Power Station on the south bank of the Thames. The building was converted by architects Herzog and de Meuron and opened as a gallery in 2000, keeping the industrial bones of the old power station rather than hiding them. The most striking result is the Turbine Hall, a vast open space that once held the station's electricity generators and now hosts large-scale commissions, some of which have become famous in their own right.

The permanent collection is free to enter and spans work from around 1900 to today, with pieces by artists such as Picasso, Matisse, Rothko, Warhol, and Hockney, alongside a strong showing of contemporary and international art. Displays are arranged by theme rather than strictly by date, so you move between periods and movements as you go. Major temporary exhibitions are ticketed separately and usually require a paid timed-entry ticket, so it's worth checking what's on before you visit. The Blavatnik Building extension, added in 2016, includes a top-floor viewing level with wide views across London and over to St Paul's Cathedral.

Most visitors spend two to three hours here, more if there's a special exhibition you want to see properly. The gallery sits right by the Millennium Bridge, which crosses the Thames to St Paul's, and it's an easy walk from the reconstructed Shakespeare's Globe and Borough Market, so it pairs well with a wider day exploring Bankside. The nearest stations are Southwark and Blackfriars, and the riverside walk along the South Bank is one of the pleasant ways to arrive on foot.